Rotary Information Weekly.
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The “plus” in PolioPlus
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From the desk of District Governor Andy
Fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors and friends. The ability of humans to adapt has never been challenged as much in our lifetime as it has in the past 4 months. Each one of us, our families, our friends, our neighbours, our clubs, our employers, our governments, our places of worship, our supermarkets, our hospitals, our travel, and everything around us has changed to face a new future. This change was so sudden; did anyone of us see this coming? In January, this year when I joined 544 other District Governors-Elect from around the world for our Governor Training in San Diego, California USA, none of us knew, we will be leading our Clubs and Districts into a new future. Our District was advantageously placed to use modern internet technology to connect during lockdown, because we have had Rotary EClubs in the district meeting online since 2013. Since you elected me three years ago as District Governor Nominee, our Governor Team had been meeting over the past years on Zoom. So, moving our traditional Rotary and Rotaract club meetings to online zoom or skype platforms was not a challenge for many clubs. Let me congratulate Immediate Past Governor Harry Bolton, PDG Terry Brown and every member in our district who led this transformation to be connected online during the past 4 months for being a trailblazer. 49 of our clubs met online during lockdown. Yes, together we in District 9640 did it! My District Trainer PDG Michael and I grabbed the opportunity of the pandemic lockdown in April and May to engage with the then PresidentsElect on zoom to discuss their challenges, aspirations and fears going forward into the unknown future. These regular interactive zoom chats led by my Assistant Governors-Elect helped us to get to know each other better and bond as a team. As a result, I am delighted to see the new camaraderie and open communications developing in each cluster. Already some clubs have teamed up to embark on joint projects to create a bigger impact in their local communities. Well done D9640, we are expanding our reach!! So where do we go from here? As a Marketing professional, to me every challenge is an opportunity to renew our focus and grow our companies or clubs. This year in place of the annual district assembly with a large gathering of people, we are having small cluster-based training days for all Rotarians starting in August. My District Trainer PDG Michael Irving together with the 10 Assistant Governors (AG’s) will organise these cluster training days after discussion with each club President. Rotaractors and Interactors too are invited to join. The AG’s will play a key leadership role this year in mentoring your club to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Please share your great ideas with your AG. Our District Leadership Meetings too will be held in 4 different clusters starting from Jimboomba in Queensland. These are ground breaking actions! We have not done this before. Let’s give it a go.
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